• Source:JND
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Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Wednesday that both suicide bombers who carried out recent attacks in Islamabad and South Waziristan were Afghan nationals. His remarks came a day after a devastating blast outside the Islamabad District Judicial Complex killed at least 12 people and left more than 30 injured, several of them critically.

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Punjab province’s Rawalpindi said seven suspects were detained in connection with the Islamabad explosion. According to Dawn, the suspects were arrested from Rawalpindi’s Fauji Colony and Dhoke Kashmirian, while an additional raid was conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.

“It is our major, serious concern,” Naqvi said, adding that Pakistani authorities had repeatedly raised security concerns with the Taliban administration in Kabul. He accused the Afghan Taliban of harboring and supporting Islamist militants who target Pakistani forces. Kabul has not yet issued an official response.

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Bombings Stoke Regional Tensions

The Islamabad blast came a day after another suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the main gate of a military school in South Waziristan, a region near the Afghan border, killing three people. Militants stormed the school, triggering a fierce gun battle with Pakistani troops that lasted more than 24 hours until all attackers were killed.

The TTP claimed responsibility for the Islamabad attack, saying it had targeted judicial officials. It has carried out hundreds of attacks across Pakistan this year, many of them targeting police and security forces in the border regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The explosion on Tuesday was the first big attack in years to strike Islamabad, which had been considered secure from militant activity.

India-Pakistan Diplomatic Spat

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after the attack, blamed “Afghan-based militants acting at the behest of India” for having orchestrated the bombing. He termed it a “nefarious conspiracy.” India dismissed the claim. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “India unequivocally rejects the baseless and unfounded allegations.” A series of cross-border strikes in May brought the two nuclear-armed neighbors close to open conflict, and tensions remain high.

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